Sotomayor Enters Confirmation Process with Miers-Like Numbers



July 10, 2009 by Patrick
Filed under News & Politics

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Sonia Sotomayor will begin her confirmation hearings next week with some of the highest levels of public opposition of any Supreme Court nominee in the last two decades, according to a new poll by the CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation.

Sonia Sotomayor

In fact, only one nominee had a higher level of opposition: Harriet Miers, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Miers later withdrew her nomination under questions about her qualifications from both the political left and right.

Forty-seven percent of respondents to the poll say they would like to see the U.S. Senate vote to confirm Sotomayor versus forty-percent who say they would not. In the final CNN poll taken before Miers withdrew her nomination, forty-three percent of respondents said the Senate should oppose her confirmation.

No other recent nominee, not even Robert Bork, whose own nomination under President Ronald Reagan was scuttled, faced public opposition this severe. In the last poll taken during the Bork confirmation fight, thirty-eight percent wanted to see him confirmed versus thirty-five percent who did not.

All other nominees polled by CNN—Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, John Roberts and Samuel Alito—enjoyed wide margins of public support.

Interestingly, independents are split down the middle on Sotomayor. Forty-two percent believe she should be confirmed. Forty-one percent believe she should not be confirmed.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey was conducted from June 26 to 28, with 1,026 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

http://www.nowhampshire.com/2009/07/10/ ... e-numbers/